buchino

Currently, the Navy inventory includes some 280 combatant, logistics, and support vessels, plus 3,700 aircraft. But-more important to many-We the People employ 340,000 active-duty Navy personnel and 68,000 reservists plus 175,000 active-duty Marines and 39,600 reservists. This is not to mention185,000 Navy Department civilians. (…)

No naval actions since 1945 have required combat fleets to protect sea lanes-the very reason navies exist. Instead, light forces have proved most useful, escorting tankers in the Persian Gulf and currently combating pirates off Africa. (…)

{ Fear and Loathing in the Post-Naval Era | USNI }